British soldiers were airlifted home after a major ‘six-car pile up’ in Estonia reportedly injured 17 people, with three troops still remaining in hospital.
The car smash took place at the Tallin-Narva highway on the border with Russia on Friday evening last week and is said to have involved three minibuses carrying the soldiers.
According to local media, a total of 17 people, including 12 British soldiers, were taken to hospital after a 37-year-old woman driving a Volvo S80 made a left turn and collided with a BMW 530D driven by a 62-year-old woman.
What followed was a ‘chain reaction’ which apparently involved four other vehicles – all minibuses, of which two Toyotas were carrying the soldiers en route to their base in Tapa.
Ambulances reportedly transported five people from the BMW and 12 soldiers from the two Toyota Proace minibuses to the hospital.
The British soldiers had been deployed as part of a special NATO mission designed to deter attacks from Russia.
Sources suggest that the car smash took place in the midst of blizzard just 20 miles from the Russia border.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘Several British soldiers deployed on Operation CABRIT in Estonia were injured in a road traffic incident last Friday.
Footage of the car smash which took place at the Tallin-Narva highway on the border with Russia on Friday evening last week
Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment
Britain’s armoured vehicles prepare to move at the Tapa Military Camp, in Estonia, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023
‘Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment.
‘Five have since been discharged and three are being cared for at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. We wish them all a speedy recovery.’